denominal adjectives

a paper airplane

the senior trip

apple cider

the country jail

a stone wall

These are called denominal adjectives. THe term denominal indicates that a word has lost its nominal status; it can be used to refer to any noun form that takes on a non-nominal grammatical function.

hindsight / In hindsight,

the ability to understand an event or situation only after it has happened

後見之明，事後孔明

With (the benefit/wisdom of) hindsight, I should have taken the job.

現在想想，我真應該接受那份工作。

In hindsight, it would have been better to wait.

事後看來，等一等會更好。

field

領域

the14 the English

【问】 《英语惯用法大辞典》( 中国科技出版社, 1994 , p .684 ) :“ English 作名词时, 作‘ 英格
兰人’解, 也泛指全部英国人。”

既然English 可以用作名词, 作“ 英格兰人”解, 为什么不可以说: He is a n Englis h ?
另一个问题是: 用作名词的Englis h 本身能够“泛指全部英国人”吗?

【答】 由于t he English 是指( 作为一个民族的) 英国人, 所以我国出版的许多辞书都将这
里的Engl is h 看作是名词( 英国人) , 例如《新英汉辞典》、《远东英汉大辞典》、《现代英语用法词典》等。但是, 如果把th e English 中的Englis h 看作是名词, 就会出现许多无法解释
的问题。例如: 在My f aht e r is English .这个句子里, 既然Englis h 是名词, 那么, 为什么
其前不能加不定冠词a n ? 还有, 既然English 是名词, 为什么the English 总是指作为一
个民族的英国人, 而不能用来指一个特定的英国人? 由此可以看出, 这里的English 并不
具有名词的语法特征。那么它是个什么词呢? 它是个形容词!

大家知道, 有些形容词加上定冠词, 可以表示一类人或一类事物, 例如, the poor ( 穷
人) , th e young ( 年轻人) , th e old( 老年人) , th e un employ ed ( 失业者) , the e xploit ed ( 被剥
削者) , the good ( 好的东西) , t he impossible ( 不可能的事情) , th e un known ( 未知事物) 。
如同th e poor , the e xploit ed 是指一类人, 而不是指个体的人一样, t he Englis h 也是只能
指作为一个民族的英国人, 而不能指个体的英国人。把它看作是形容词, 这就自然而然
地回答了你的第二个问题: 单单English 本身不能泛指全部英国人, 就如同poor , young
本身不能泛指作为群体的“ 穷人”,“ 年轻人”一样。

把t he English 中的Englis h 说成是形容词, 并不是我们的独特见解, 许多英语辞书
都是这么解释的, 例如ALD 和CGE L。后者把th e English 中的English 这类词称为用作
名词短语中心词的形容词( adject ives as h eads of noun phr ases ) 。对于the Fr en ch , t he
Dut ch , t he I ris h , th e Wels h , th e Br it ish 可以作同样的解释。(

racial slur

帶有種族歧視的說話, such as nigger

悼文

obituary /ə ʊ  ˈbɪtʃ.ʊə.ri/ /oʊˈbɪtʃ.u.er.i/ noun [ C ] ( informal obit )

a report, especially in a newspaper, which gives the news of someone's death and details about their life 

herd mentality

羊群心理

Tell-tale sign

徵兆

a contradiction in terms

a combination of words that is nonsense because some of the words suggestthe opposite of some of the others:

Many people think that an honest politician is a contradiction in terms.

例子:周一嶽說, We demand and request the Hospital Authority to increase their vigilance. 

avail

avail   /əveɪl/  noun   [ U  ]

use, purpose, advantage, or profit

    We tried to persuade her not to resign, but  to no  avail  (= did not succeed) .    

  My attempts to improve the situation were  of little/no  avail.

avail   /əveɪl/  verb   [ T  ] old use    

 

to help or be useful to someone or something

    Our efforts availed us  nothing   (= did not help) .

avalanche

avalanche     /æv. ə l.ɑn t  ʃ/ /-æntʃ/  noun   [ C  ]

avalanche

1.  a large amount of ice, snow and rock falling quickly down the side of a mountain

2.  the sudden arrival of too many things

    We were swamped by an avalanche  of  letters/phone calls/complaints.

雪崩

anecdote, antidote

anecdote /ˈæn.ɪk.dəʊt/ /-doʊt/ noun [ C ]

a short often funny story, especially about something someone has done

He told one or two amusing anecdotes about his years as a policeman.

antidote     /æn.ti.dəʊt/   /-t ̬i.doʊt/  noun   [ C  ]

  

1.  a chemical, especially a drug, which limits the effects of a poison

    Sales of nerve gas antidotes increased dramatically before the war.  

2.  a way of preventing or acting against something bad

    Regular exercise is the best antidote  to  tiredness and depression.

留意兩個字中dote的發音.

antecedent

antecedent

n.经历； <数>（比例）前项； <逻>前件； 祖先

adj.在前的，在先的，先行的

网 络

前件；前项；先行的；先例

antecedent    /ˌæn.tiˈsiː.d ə nt/  /-t ̬ə-/  noun   [ C  ]

1.  formal      someone or something existing or happening before, especially as the cause or origin of something existing or happening later

    Charles Babbage's mechanical calculating engines were the antecedents of the modern computer.    

  Many people feel a great curiosity to find out about their antecedents.  

2.  specialized      a word or phrase which a pronoun refers back to

    In the sentence 'He picked a book off the shelf and handed it to Sally, 'book' is the antecedent of 'it'.

anachronism

anachronism

英 [əˈnækrənɪzəm] 美 [əˈnækrəˌnɪzəm]

n.时代错误； 不合时代的事，过时的事或人

网 络

与时代不合的事物；时代错乱；年代错误；时代错误

For some people, marriage is an anachronism from the days when women needed to be protected.

1. The monarchy is seen by many people as an anachronism in the modern world.  

很多人认为君主制在现代世界不合时宜。

anaesthetic 麻醉藥

anaesthetic , mainly US anesthetic /ˌæn.əsˈθet.ɪk/ /-ˈθet ̬-/ noun [ C or U ]

a substance that makes you unable to feel pain

The operation is performed under anaesthetic.

The procedure is carried out under local anaesthetic (= a substance that makes you unable to feel pain in part of your body) .

I've never had a general anaesthetic (= a substance that makes you unconscious so you do not feel pain) .

1. How long will I be under the anaesthetic ?       

我会麻醉多长时间？

来自《权威词典》

2. The anaesthetist gave the patient an anaesthetic.   

麻醉师给病人施麻醉剂。

来自《简明英汉词典》

3. He was given a general anaesthetic.

他被全身麻醉。

来自《简明英汉词典》

4. He's still groggy from the anaesthetic.     

他用过麻药，现在仍眩晕无力。

来自《简明英汉词典》

* * * 

好鐘意串啲咁難串的字.

next year vs the next year

我在討論區提出了一條問題:

Cambridge Dictionaries Online has provided examples on the word "next".

Why is "the" omitted in

"What do you think you'll be doing this time next year?"
while next day is preceded by "the" in

"We had a dreadful argument, but he phoned me the next day (= the day after) to apologize."
Do we include "the" before "next"?

有人答了我:

In the first sentence "next" refers to a specific year. An alternate for the first sentence might be:

"What do you think you'll be doing this time in 2015?"

In the second sentence "the next" refers to "the following." An alternate for the second sentence might be:

"We had a dreadful argument, but he phoned me the following day to apologize."

similar to:

"The train was full, so we boarded the next train."

不過其他網友說這條問題已問過,指引我去看另一條別人問過的問題:

-------------------------------------

I would like to start planning for next year.
In the above sentence, there is no definite article before the words next year. Should it be present, as in the following sentence which sounds far less natural to me?

I would like to start planning for the next year.
Or, is it more proper to leave it out as in the first sentence? What is the reasoning behind the correct usage in this context?

我覺得最好的答案是:

Next in this usage is better regarded as a determiner rather than as an adjective. ( http://simple.wiktionary.org/wiki/next ) (compare last year, this year). The use of another definite determiner (the) is thus superfluous. However, this does not apply with following, present, and previous, where the definite article is needed to pre-modify:

I wanted to start planning for the following year.

I'd guess that following etc are behaving more like adjectives, so there needs to be a definite determiner (the definite article) added. Next grades into adjectivalness, so the definite article is an option. With "this", the adjectival component does not exist, so we can't say for the this year.

但另外一個答案都好有趣:

In your particular example, I would say that next year refers to 2013, while the next year refers to the twelve-month period ending at the end of November 2013. (Not much difference in practice, but more if you use the phrase in February). I can't explain the difference, but I'm sure it's there; perhaps it's just idiomatic.

無論如何,next既是adjective,也是determiner.這一點最關鍵.

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/167147/the-next-day-or-next-day

為何the PolyU's School of Design錯?

the use of possessive doesn't take "the" eg:

My sister's dress

Hong Kong's international airport

China's economy

所以我們可以改為:

PolyU's School of Design

或者

the PolyU School of Design

在第二個名字中的PolyU是名詞當形容詞用。

另外，也可以說：

The School of Design of PolyU

有時也可能見到：PolyU School of Design，但這是把PolyU當作School of Design的名字，像Oxford University中，Oxford是大學的名字，PolyU School of Design中的PolyU 變成Oxford University中的Oxford，School of Law變成Oxford University中的University. 

戒除

 The doctor asked the patient to abstain from smoking.

医生叫这位病人戒烟。

adjective:abstemious

 not doing things that give you pleasure, especially not eating good food or drinking alcohol

 not doing something, such as drinking alcohol or having sex:The best way to avoid pregnancy is total abstinence from sex.

一葉草

第一類，表示事物形狀、性質：

a blade of grass　　　一葉草
a blanket of snow　　一層雪
a blast of wind　　　　一陣風
a blot of cloth　　　　一匹布
a cloud of smoke　　　一團煙

第二類，表示事物數量：

an article of food   　　　一種食品
a chain of thought　　　一列士兵
an item of news　　　　一群美女
a movement of symphony　　一章交響樂
a round of applause　　　一陣掌聲

第三類，表示事物集合的概念

an army of workers 一隊工人
a file of soldiers　　一列士兵
a galaxy of beauties　一群美女
a mob of gangsters　一夥歹徒
a throng of fans　　　一批影迷